‘Russia at peace with the West suits India. It does not suit China’

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Quotes attributed to: Professor C. Raja Mohan, Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore

"India's Russia relationship can be overstated. You know, just because this has been in the news and headlines and everyone talks about India buying oil, India's weak link in the Cold War. Why is India not rallying behind the West? But the fact that Mr Modi has been invited to come to the White House as a state guest shows that the US has not criticised India."

"But we have a dependence on Russia. You're trying to manage it. So Russia is a headache. We're trying to manage. It's a declining weight in our relationship on the economic front. It has important value on our defence front. So there's no question to say India is supporting Russia, I think that's a misrepresentation. India is not supporting Russia. India is keeping quiet."

"If you look at the last 30 years, there's been a dramatic transformation of India's relationship with the US. The US is India's largest trade partner. Last year alone, it was close to USD$190 billion. And if you remove the recent oil purchases, India's trade with Russia in 2021 was around USD$9 billion. So the economic weight of the US has dramatically grown in India's larger economic calculus."

"China and Russia have gotten together. They say they have an alliance without limits. India has a problem with China. India's principal problem is with China. And the fact that Russia is getting closer to China adds to the problem. So that's the reason why India is trying to get closer to the United States."

"So a Russia that is at peace with the West suits India. It does not suit China. It suits India. A Russia that is at peace with the West means the West does not cut slack for China as it happened in the Cold War. And today, again, the Europeans run to the Chinese and say, please stop Russia from beating up on the Ukrainians. So a Russia -West war actually benefits China in both ways."

"But India is a loser because if Russia and the West fight India's ability to build the widest possible coalition against China becomes harder. So what India is trying to do is to find a balance to that by getting closer to the United States and Japan and other Western countries. Which historically, very differently India believed from the time of independence, India and China as brothers in Asia. We can build a different order. But thanks to Xi Jinping, I think we've been cured of those illusions."

"So, I would say the India US differences on the geopolitical front have significantly narrowed. That does not mean India becomes an ally to the US, like Australia or Japan. But I think the collaboration coordination between India and the US will continue to grow India, US, Japan, others are trying to do is to create a framework in which to prevent China from trying to dominate its neighbours. And I think the US is going to play a helpful role. Unlike in the past where the US dominated everything that happens."

"The US is building … I think that's a big change which people have not noticed. The US is willing to let Japan play a larger role, willing to, asking India to play a larger role. So I think it suits us very well that this is not US led, you know, horsemen charging at China, but one which looks at creating local balance in which the local powers like India play a larger role. A rising India is better prepared for this kind of a format rather than one which says the US will decide everything, we simply want to follow that."

C. Raja Mohan is Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore.

Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

Editors Note: In the story "India-US Summit" sent at: 19/06/2023 06:00.

This is a corrected repeat.